How do I Get My Australian Citizenship Certificate for My Baby?

The question “How do I get my Australian citizenship certificate for my baby?” is often asked my young new mothers who have either given birth to a baby recently or is expecting to give birth soon. First and foremost, getting an Australian citizenship certificate is not such a hassle if the child has been born in Australia or overseas to parents, who at least one of them is an Australian citizen.

So what are the ways in which a baby gets Australian citizenship?

1. Firstly, the applicant needs to prove that they were born in Australia and hence acquired citizenship by birth, for which they will have to show their birth certificate.
2. Children who are born overseas can register as Australian citizens by descent, if one of the parents is an Australian citizen at the time of the birth of the child. Parents in this case should be biological parents and not adopted parents. Once the child reaches the age of 16 years, the parent can apply for the child’s Citizenship by descent status.
3. The child’s passport can be given by the government on getting the consent of the parents in writing or a written court order allowing the child to possess travel documents including passport.
4. The time taken for the child to receive a new passport is approximately 3 - 6 weeks depending on the submission of all the right documents.
5. The cost for a passport valid for 5 years for children under 16 years of age is $148 and for a 10-year passport for children above 16 years is $293.The cost of processing the passport and the citizenship for the child could increase if there is an urgency, if there are other demands by the applicant.
6. The documents required to qualify a child for an Australian passport as well as for the Australian citizenship include:
   • Birth certificate of the child
   • Documents that prove the eligibility for Australian citizenship either by birth or by descent to be granted to the child.
   • For a child who was born overseas, the birth certificate obtained from the country of birth must be handed over as proof. Moreover, for the child to be granted the Australian citizenship, the citizenship certificates of the parents too must be handed over as proof of their Australian citizen. Even one parent having an Australian citizenship during the birth of the child makes it eligible for the child to become an Australian citizenship.
   • The child may be born overseas but is also considered an Australian citizen if at least one of the parents possess a Permanent Residency Visa from Australia
   • All supporting documents of the applicant, along with the photo and proof of their present residential address is mandatory.
   • Two photographs in color of the child taken when the child was not older than 6 months is required and the photographs must be customized to the specifications required by the authorities.
7. Somebody of significance, who is above 18 years and is an Australian citizen should stand as guarantor for the child. It should be somebody who has known the child since birth or for more than 12 months.
8. All original document of the child should be carried along with the photographs and the if the child is above 16 years, then the child too can accompany the parents to lodge the application form.
9. For parents holding any particular type of visa, the child born to them will automatically hold the same visa type.
10. For children who are born in Australia, automatically acquire the Australian citizenship and a citizenship certificate is issued to them. The birth certificate of the child is mandatory in such cases.